Europe before 1914 was ruled by illegitimate regimes
from the Rhine river to the east. The two Kaisers, the Sultan and the
Tzar, who were unable to understand the huge social and political
upheaval Europe went trough with the industrial-technological
revolution, massive urbanization and population growth since the end of
the Napoleon wars. The authority of these kings was derived from fables
and folk stories, and not from popular support. They had no political
system to reinvent themselves. Not surprisingly the two kaisers ruled by
1914 in their countries for more than 50 years. The two Kaisers felt
the loss of popular support among growing urban population, who were
mainly dispossessed proletarian, supportive to socialistic parties,
while the agrarian communities, who were rather supportive to the
tradition leadership, declined in their numbers. The two Kaisers, each
in different way where obsessed by these trends and believed that a
“good war” can stop these “negative” trends. The war, even if broke out
because of a rather peculiar reason,(murder of heir) was well prepared
and discussed for years before the war among the ruling elites of
Germany. The surprise was the machine guns effect and the stupidity of
anachronistic generals, who could not predict the slaughter of millions
of soldiers in the very first weeks of the war. Then there was no
political courage to stop the war without some justification, like
territorial achievements. So they continued the slaughter until
destroying themselves and if you take WWII as direct result of WWI the
whole Europe as well.
Europe never really recovered from the two world wars. It lost its morale and political legitimacy to spread its cultural, social, political and philosophical achievements, and now it is in retreat while its cultural existence is threatened by newly awaken religious fundamentalism of its neighbors.
Unfortunately i see similar illegitimacy in the US and EU politics, where the politics is driven by short sighted, pro-plutocracy interests, protecting the existing financial elites on account of the rest of the population. This was the main reason for the 2008 economic crisis and will be the reason for next crisis. These politicians support economic system, where publicly traded companies are managed by interconnected individuals, who are guarantees for each other, whoile by their short sighted policy and drive to personal rewards dilute the real owners of the companies, the general public, and mostly the pension funds depositors. Not surprisingly this system cannot cope with the main danger of the world today, the environment, the despotic regimes in Africa and Asia, and the demographic explosion of uneducated masses in the underdeveloped countries.
Europe never really recovered from the two world wars. It lost its morale and political legitimacy to spread its cultural, social, political and philosophical achievements, and now it is in retreat while its cultural existence is threatened by newly awaken religious fundamentalism of its neighbors.
Unfortunately i see similar illegitimacy in the US and EU politics, where the politics is driven by short sighted, pro-plutocracy interests, protecting the existing financial elites on account of the rest of the population. This was the main reason for the 2008 economic crisis and will be the reason for next crisis. These politicians support economic system, where publicly traded companies are managed by interconnected individuals, who are guarantees for each other, whoile by their short sighted policy and drive to personal rewards dilute the real owners of the companies, the general public, and mostly the pension funds depositors. Not surprisingly this system cannot cope with the main danger of the world today, the environment, the despotic regimes in Africa and Asia, and the demographic explosion of uneducated masses in the underdeveloped countries.
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